CNS

Citizens demand to stop India's nuclear programme

Recent nuclear emergency in Japan leaves no doubt that this world needs to renounce nuclear power for military and civil/ energy purposes, as soon as possible, to put an end to any further catastrophe in the name of 'energy', 'power' or 'technology'. Humankind has only seen unprecedented and uncontrollable devastation, misery and agony due to nuclear accidents over the past years or atom bomb strikes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Nuclear power is clearly the most dangerous options for civil or military use - and - time is running out before we can act upon nuclear disarmament in the world.

World Sleep Day is held every year on March 18th, with a view to raise awareness about the merits of sleeping well for a healthy life. The theme for this year (2011) is promoting healthy sleep for all ages. Sleep is a basic human need—a crucial component of healthy living, much like breathing, eating and remaining physically fit. Unfortunately, in today’s world it is often compromised by the habits of a whirl wind lifestyle. Very often our waking hours tread with impunity upon the territory of our dreams. Sleep disorders constitute a global epidemic, affecting up to 45% of the world's population. Insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), restless legs syndrome (RLS), and sleep deprivation significantly impact physical, mental and emotional health, in addition to affecting work performance and personal relationships.

Starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in people co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) save lives. This reinforces already existing body of evidence of beneficial public health outcomes of providing ART along with standard anti-TB treatment to TB and HIV co-infected people. These new study results were presented at the recently concluded 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2011). In 2010, Prof Anthony Harries, Senior Adviser, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) had said in an exclusive interview with CNS: "The most recent WHO advice issued in November 2009, is to give ART to ALL HIV infected TB patients regardless of CD4 count and to give it as soon as possible after the anti-TB treatment."

Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) are infections associated with surgical procedures and are a major source of post-operative illness. "These infections are responsible for approximately one quarter of all nosocomial infections and affect 1.4 million people worldwide at any time. SSIs result in longer hospitalization, increased patient mortality and higher costs for healthcare providers and payers" said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant, who is the national President-elect of Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) 2012 and former Head of Surgery Dept, King George's Medical College (KGMC) and former Chief Medical Superintendent of Gandhi Memorial and Associated Hospitals.

When one hears of farm suicides, Vidharbha in Maharashtra may come to mind immediately. And then perhaps Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh or Kalahandi in Orissa. Of course, if we have been tracking the subject, we may know that Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab will figure in a list of badly affected states. It is ironical that the last among these was touted to be among the success stories of India's Green Revolution.

Although women get diagnosed for tuberculosis (TB) later than men, treatment outcomes among women are better than men with higher TB treatment success rate and lower default (drop-out) rate in the female patients. Among the unreached people who need TB care, a significant number of them are likely to be poor and probably women. There is a lot more we need to do to bring in the desired change in diagnosing people with TB as early as possible and treating them with standard regimens successfully.

Tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes are better among women as compared to those in men, said Dr KS Sachdeva, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) of the Government of India. According to the RNTCP data, among new sputum positive cases of TB registered in 2009, TB treatment success rates were higher in women (89 per cent) than those in men (87 per cent) and less women dropped out of TB treatment than men (4 per cent drop out or default rate for women, and 6 per cent default rate in men). He was speaking at a focussed meeting on TB and women organized in New Delhi by Global Health Advocates (GHA) on 8th March 2011.

Close on the heels of International Women's Day 2011, comes the news of a path breaking research which puts the onus of a healthy generation on women. The research, by scientists from the University of Cambridge, provides important insight into why children born to mothers who consumed an unhealthy diet during pregnancy have an increased risk of health problems later in life. According to this research, poor diet can lead to abnormal development of the pancreatic beta cells which make insulin, the hormone vital for regulating blood sugar levels. This can trigger diabetes in adulthood as the cells "wear out" sooner than usual, said Susan Ozanne of the University of Cambridge, co-leader of the team.

Genital tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of tubal infertility, said Mamta Jacob of Global Health Advocates (GHA) at a meeting on importance of addressing TB in context of women's health in New Delhi, India, to mark the International Women's Day (8th March). Only two per cent of women with genital TB have live births. It is usually asymptomatic so needs higher degree of suspicion so that proper diagnosis can be made and standard treatment provided as early as possible, said Dr Nerges Mistry, Director, The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, who was another keynote speaker at the above mentioned meet.

It is no coincidence but rather an ill-synergy of a range of factors that increase the risk for a woman to get tuberculosis (TB). In India, sixty per cent women are poor which often means poor living conditions, poor food, long working hours and ignoring health overtime. Fifty five per cent women are anaemic. Anaemia is a cause of TB (as it accelerates progression from latent TB infection to active TB disease) and effect of TB too (once a person develops TB anaemia can set in). Forty eight per cent women are malnourished. Fifty six per cent of India’s total population lives in urban slums (overcrowded, poorly ventilated) out of which women constitute forty seven per cent.

According to the study done by Tuberculosis Research Centre in India alarming numbers of women with tuberculosis (TB) become homeless once diagnosed with TB. At a meeting on importance of addressing TB in context of women’s health organized by Global Health Advocates (GHA) to mark the International Women's Day (8th March), this fact sent shivers down the spine: 100,000 women are abandoned by their husbands due to TB every year in India.

Diabetes control in Thailand is improving, but better awareness and patients’ treatment compliance is needed to fully tackle the health issues. So says Professor Wannee Nitiyanant, vice president of the Diabetes Association of Thailand under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sinrindhorn in reaction to a recently published international study. The study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington showed that millions of people worldwide may be at risk of early death from diabetes and related cardiovascular illnesses because of poor diagnosis and ineffective treatment.

The 8th of March 2011 marks the centenary of the very first International Women's Day which was celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, when more than one million women and men attended International Women's Day rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, and end discrimination. The UN theme for International Women's Day 2011 is: "Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women."

Lucia Victor Jayaseelan
Executive Coordinator, CAW

International Women's Day, 8th March
While much achievement has been made in the past decades, women workers across Asia still struggle for more rights and equality. They need to find more ways to make their voices heard, such as engaging in politics, speakers at a seminar in Bangkok said in the run up to International Women's Day (March 8). "Women found their voices. Power must come from within," Jurgette Honculada of the Committee for Asian Women (CAW) said about the gains made in Asia. But obstacles in gaining rights remain, she emphasized, 'from companies, state and men in our lives'. "Politics is the name of the game. Women should not simply wait for the crumbs falling from the table of the master, but try to take their place at the table of decision making," Honculada said, stressing that if something is not written in a law 'it is here today, gone tomorrow'.

[Listen to audio-recording/ podcast of Prof (Dr) RP Sahi's inaugural address here]
"Ano-rectal problems were considered as minor medical or surgical procedure and never got its due importance. Any damage done to this area by any surgical technique is very difficult to reconstruct. So one has to be a very efficient surgeon to help these patients out from the so-called minor problems - these ano-rectal problems are not minor rather very major ones" said Professor (Dr) RP Sahi, one of the senior-most and decorated surgeons of the country while inaugurating the region's first Ano-Rectal Problems Revisited Workshop at SIPS Super-Speciality Hospital in Chowk, Lucknow.

Region's first "Ano-rectal Problems Revisited" workshop was held on Sunday (6 March 2011) at SIPS Super-speciality Hospital, Shahmeena Road, Chowk, Lucknow, which brought together distinguished surgeons from the country. One of the senior-most and reputed surgeons of the country, Professor (Dr) RP Sahi inaugurated this scientific meet.

We all are aware that Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevalence is rapidly increasing in India. Urban Asian Indian children are also increasingly afflicted with the problem of obesity, majorly due to nutritional westernization and sedentary lifestyle. Research studies show increasing trends of obesity, insulin resistance, and thus increased risk for development of early onset T2DM and coronary heart disease. Interestingly, both children and adults are largely unaware of correct nutrition and lifestyle behaviours. So it becomes imperative to focus on the primary prevention of obesity and inculcation of healthy diet and lifestyle practices, with a view to prevent diabetes and other related diseases.

International Women's Day is on 8th March
Instead of a distinguished panel choosing an appropriate candidate for HT Woman 2011 award (probably in a closed meeting room), the reputed English newspaper opened the process of nomination and selection to its readers (at least in UP state of India). There might be others who might have done better, but let me share this example I know of, how participation, representation and ownership is so key in this era powered by social media.

Newly elected CWC members from UP

A sincere effort was made to encourage the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) to be more proactive in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to preserve the best interest of the child by fostering child rights. The duration of survival of the child, right to life, right to inclusion and protection were key indicators the meeting focussed on. This two-day sensitization workshop was organised jointly by the Women Welfare Department, UP Government and SATHI, an organisation working for children in difficult situations. It was attended by newly elected CWC members from 71 districts of UP and Superintendents of government homes that house children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with law.

Dear Friends, My name is Arka Mukhopadhyay and I am a theatre practitioner and poet. I am writing this open letter, not as a member of any organization or partisan agenda, but as an individual, to share my grave concerns about a rock concert called Ujaan which is scheduled to be held in Frazerganj, which lies in the Sunderbans district in West Bengal from March 10th to 12th. As per the website and their facebook page, they claim that it is a festival for the Sunderbans. They also talk about some developmental projects that the concert will directly or indirectly lead on to (click here). They even seem to have WWF and Earth Hour as partners, as per the website.

A dedicated symposium and workshop on “ano-rectal problems revisited” which will bring together distinguished ano-rectal surgeons from the country shall be organised at SIPS Super-speciality Hospital, Shahmeena Road, Chowk, said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant, Executive Director of Piles To Smiles Clinics, who is also a former Head of the Surgery Department at CSM Medical University (erstwhile KGMC). One of the senior-most and reputed surgeons of the country, Professor (Dr) RP Sahi shall inaugurate this meet.

DON'T TRADE AWAY OUR LIVES IN THE EU-INDIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
More than two thousand people living with HIV (PLHIV) from across India and Asia marched to Parliament Street in New Delhi today alongside the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. They urged the Indian government to stand strong amid pressure from the European Union (EU) to accept provisions in a free trade agreement (FTA) that would restrict access to affordable medicines. The sensitive negotiations are taking place in Brussels today.

A new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington shows that millions of people worldwide may be at risk of early death from diabetes and related cardiovascular illnesses because of poor diagnosis and ineffective treatment. The study titled " Management of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risk factors in seven countries: a comparison of data from national health examination surveys," published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization's March edition, examines diabetes diagnosis, treatment, and management in 4 developing countries (Colombia, Iran, Mexico, Thailand) and 3 developed countries-- England, Scotland, , and the United States.

Fighting tuberculosis (TB) in prisons is a smarter choice for governments from economic, social justice and public health criteria. In India, the government was asked to cough up INR 300,000 (>USD 6000) as compensation to be paid to the wife of the TB prison inmate who died inside Howrah Jail (source: The Times of India, 22 February 2011). Getting TB disease and dieing of it was not part of prison sentence. Although government tried to shun responsibility in the beginning, the inquiry conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) brought forth the truth: there was clear negligence on part of the government to not provide TB treatment and care to this prison inmate. He died later of chronic obstructive pulmonary tuberculosis on 27 February 2007. His family had complained that he was not given proper medicine and was not allowed to consult an expert.

Mandeep Dhaliwal - UNDP

In Asia and the Pacific, as well as worldwide, laws and practices continue to often seriously hamper the progress made in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. Some 150 participants from 22 countries from across the region gathered in Bangkok last week to discuss the issue. "In the Asia-Pacific region, and across the world, there are too many examples of countries with laws, policies and practices that punish, rather than protect, people in need of HIV services. Where the law doesn't advance justice, it stalls progress," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), who joined the regional dialogue.

"Unbiased and independent inquiry must be held in every incident of bomb blasts and communal violence" said Suresh Khairnar who is a noted social activist, and has been working against communalism since Bhagalpur riots 1989. Suresh Khairnar has been part of fact-finding missions in bomb blast incidents like Malegaon 2006, Nanded 2006, Nagpur RSS HQ 2006, Malegaon 2008, Khairlanji 2008 (dalit atrocity), Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad) 2006, Batla House 2008 and over 60 communal riots, is in the city Lucknow.

The Panchayati Raj Sammelan brought forth two key issues related to democracy at the community level: firstly, the elected representatives should take decisions in open meetings where common people can participate freely; and secondly, work towards establishing local self-governance as guaranteed under Article 243 of Indian constitution after 73rd and 74th amendment. The Panchayati Raj Sammelan was organized by Lok Rajniti Manch in Lucknow on 20th February 2011 where over two dozen elected representatives from recently held Panchayat elections in UP state and more than hundred political and social activists participated.

Kudos to the nineteen parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, who recently came together in the Supreme Court, to stop the State from criminalising their children. They have joined hands to fight in courts a "sustained attack" by organisations and private persons who insist that their children’s sexuality, if not criminalised, would destroy "family values". Lending them support is film director Shyam Benegal, pitching in as intervener in the Supreme Court in the battle to sustain the 2009 Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising sex between consenting adults of the same sex.

Local self-governance is guaranteed by Indian constitution, said Ravi Kiran Jain, a highly acclaimed senior advocate of UP High Court and also a member of state presidium of Lok Rajniti Manch. Development by the people means a decentralized system of governance where the people genuinely participate in its process - something which was conceived by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of Article 243 of Indian Constitution in 1993, providing for governance by locally elected representatives at the urban and rural grassroots, said Jain. But it has been literally rendered ineffective on account of the centralized political authority.

How will an anti-corruption agency function if it has to take permission for conducting inquiry from those in power? Moreover if the anti-corruption agency is only supposed to advise the government but not given any executive power to take action to check corruption, the plight becomes grimmer. Lokpal Bill proposes to establish a single, autonomous apex body empowered to investigate and prosecute politicians, bureaucrats and judges in a defined time-frame, said noted social activist and Magsaysay Awardee Arvind Kejriwal who was speaking at the Panchayati Raj Sammelan organized by Lok Rajniti Manch in Lucknow.

The democratic institution of a panchayat needs to be strengthened. The strength is inherent at the local level, said Dr Ajit Jha from Delhi University who is the member of national presidium of Lok Rajniti Manch. Dr Jha was speaking at the Panchayati Raj Sammelan organized by Lok Rajniti Manch in Lucknow on 20th February 2011. The panchayats should be in the centre of democracy.

Ann Keeling, Chair, NCD Alliance

A civil society movement is growing in lead up to the United Nations (UN) Summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), said the Chairperson of NCD Alliance Ann Keeling, who was speaking at the WHO-wide Planning Meeting for the UN High level Meeting on NCDs in Washington DC, USA (source: youtube video). She is also the CEO of International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The UN Summit on NCDs she referred to, is scheduled to be held in September 2011.

Elected people's representatives from recent Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) state of India, will convene around two major issues: explore possibilities of implementing local self-governance as guaranteed by Indian constitution, and commit to take all decisions in open meetings, informed Dr Sandeep Pandey of Lok Rajniti Manch who is also a recepient of Magsaysay Award (2002) for emergent leadership.